PCL 6 commands are typically binary and therefore
more compact. However, PCL 6 lacks some features of PCL 5 and is closer to
Windows GDI than a PDL. All PCL 6 printers also support PCL 5.

Quoting from the "PCL 5 Printer Language Technical Reference Manual"

Hewlett-Packard created the PCL printer language (simply referred to as "PCL"
elsewhere in this manual) to provide an economical and efficient way for
application programs to control a range of printer features across a number
of printing devices

PCL 5 commands begin with the
ASCII Escape character (decimal value 27, hex
1B, abbreviated as Esc) and end with the first uppercase letter. Some commands
may be followed by binary data or data in another language. Esc ? ? # W were
? is any lowercase letter or symbol other than a numerical digit and # is
zero or more numerical digits, typically indicates that the number of bytes
indicated by # of binary data such as for an image, character or other bitmap
will follow the W. Esc %0B is followed by a number of HP/GL commands which
follow a different format.

Any text that is not preceeded by the Esc is printable text.

Esc *p100x200Y is an example of a common PCL5 command that positions the
cursor at 100 units left of the upper left corner of the printable area of
the page and 200 units down from the type. Coordinates are in the 4th quaderant.
Notice that the value preceeds the parameter identification character. e.g.
100x is 100 units in the "x" or left direction. Esc *p100x200YHello will
print Hello at (100,200).

Esc E is another example of a common PCL5 command. This command resets the
printers internal state machine to known values and is commonly found at
the start of a print job.

NOTE: Despite all the descriptions not allowing it, there are "groupless"
parametrized commands. <esc>(8U for example has a command of the
parameterized type, the "(" which is immediatly followed by the value and
parameter. It is not valid PCL but you would be hard pressed to select the
correct font without it. Setting the group to asc(127) seems to be the most
logical way to handle this when parsing PCL commands.

Remember that at 600dpi with the MICR font selected at 8.00 point, there
is no need for "half-spot walk" error correction, but at 300dpi, 1/8 of an
inch is 37.5 pixels and the font will print at either 37 pixels per character
or 38 resulting in one half pixel of positioning error per character. This
does not become significant untill 5 to 10 characters are printed and can
be compinsated for by repositioning the cursor with an Esc *p+#X command
where # is the number of characters just printed divided by two.

NOTE: Not all binary transfer escape sequences are defined by the "w" parameter
character or"W" terminating character. However, this is the preferred parameter
for standardization. The following are some sequences that do not end with
a "w" or "W"; these commands should be parsed and any binary data discarded
if the device does not support the command.

Esc & p # x/X [Transparent data] Transparent print data

Esc * b # v/V [Raster data] Raster graphics transfer by plane

NOTE: The following Esc?W commands should not be interpreted as binary data
commands:

Esc & k # W Device Specific Control

Esc ( W Select Primary Font Character Set

Esc ) W Select Secondary Font Character Set

Esc & d W Underline

DEVICE NOTE: LaserJets do not currently support the lowercase "w" as indicating
that binary data follows and will continue parsing the binary data, looking
for value field or terminating character.

There are raster graphic compression modes! And they work! 90% compression
in many cases. See Tony Parkhurst's PCLCOMP.EXE
(c source
1,2,
man,
notes,
supportedprinters) DIGITAL INSIGHT also wrote a less
effective version (no-compression to mode 2 only)
pcl_pack.c

NOTE: The Perf Skip Disable command (<esc>&l0L) does not prevent
a page eject when data is printed off the bottom of the page, it only delays
it from the point where the lower non-printable margin begins to the actual
end of the physical page.

DEVICE NOTE: LaserJets prior to LJ4, DeskJets below DJ1200C, PaintJet XL300,
and the Color LaserJet do not support HP-GL/2 commands or picture frame
directives within macros.

To extract text from a PCL print file:

Use the positioning information in the PCL file (the *p or &a groups)
to build a dbase table with fields for each bit of text, the x position and
the y position.

sort the table by y position and then x position within each y row. If there
are columns do a REPL command to increase any y positions in the second or
following columns (x position in the columns range) so that they are moved
below the first column on a "virtual" page that is longer than the original.

read through the table in sorted order concatenating the text and exporting
it. When the y position changes insert a cr/lf if desired. Tricky analysis
of the way the positions are changing can allow the detection of paragraphs,
tables, superscrip, subscript and other positional formatting.

When a macro ID is specified for which no macro has been defined, the macro
invocation, macro deletion, and "make macro permanent or temporary" commands
are ignored.

The macro enabled for auto macro overlay is executed on each page, untill
the macro is disabled (&f5X) or deleted (&f6X, 7X, or 8X) a reset
occurs (<esc>E, UEL, or control panel), or the page length
(&l#P), page size (&l#A), or orientation (&l#O) is changed.

Despite the fact that it doesn't say you can't, and I could have sworn I
did once, the tray select command (&l#H) is resoundingly ignored inside
a macro (at least with a 4X overlay). Dammit!

Please note: These questions have been answered because they are of general
interest and do not cover topics that are propriatary. Not all questions
can be answered and payment is expected for complex or valuable answers.

I need to print some reports from a character base system. The client has
asked for some minor font changes. so I am trying to use some PCL5 commands
to do this. However I cannot get the printer to recognize the escape char.
(at least I think that's the problem). Is there something in the printer
setup that would ignore the PCL code or do I have to turn PCL mode on?
My first simple test was to create a text file with some data and then place
a bold set of dashes in it. This is what I have and it prints out the same
way: (s#B3 ____ (s#B0

Hi, I have developed a program that parses a prn file created with HP Laserjet
4 or 4+. It then manipulates the pcl allowing me to generate dynamic forms.
I wish I could control the printer driver itself. Do you know where I can
find open source driver software which produces PCL like lj4? Thank you!

I want to generate simple PCL file from text file . Reason for doing this
is I want to write HP printer driver for embedded system.
For example : conversion of file which contains text like Hello
to PCL.
I just wanted to write printer driver which would be capable of printing
simple text files

James
Newton replies: Standard text files will print on a PCL5 printer with
no modification. Just copy the text out to the printer and you are done.
Add an EscE to the beginning if you like, to reset the printer. You can set
the font with the codes for font select.+

I have a PCL file with colored text and another PCL file with a rastered
bitmap. When I send them to printer (hp deskjet 5150, with drivers hp deskjet
5100 series for Windows XP), I obtain the following:

Colored text: text is printed in black.
Colored image: black line.

To send them to printer, I have done a program to send raw text to printer
(win api) and I have also try "copy /b" command. None of them works.

I have opened these files with PCL Viewer and in both cases, I can see colored
text and image correctly. I have printed them ok from this viewer.

I have also tried to print same files but in black and white and I can see
everything ok.

It seems to me that color printing is nor working for this printer hp deskjet
5150. Should I need another driver?, some kind of configuration?.

Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

James
Newton replies: This is a classic example of the differences between
PCL versions, and between pre-rendered PCL code and the rendering from
drivers.

Your PCL Viewer supports all versions of PCL, so it shows the correct
image no matter what version of PCL was used to create your PCL files. The
printer is PCL3, so it can't understand the commands used to present the
elements of the print job that are different between PCL3 and PCL5. I'm assuming
your PCL file is a PCL5 print job.

The PCL file is already rendered to PCL by a printer driver or some other
means of producing finished PCL. The windows printer drivers on your computer
do not accept PCL, they produce PCL and accept GDI commands from a windows
application. They can not take PCL5 commands and translate them into PCL3
commands for the printer. If your PCL Viewer can produces GDI print commands,
the windows driver will translate those into PCL3 and the job will print
correctly.

Summary: You can't expect a PCL3 printer to understand a PCL5 print job
and a PCL Viewer will translate PCL? into GDI, which an appropriate windows
printer driver can translate into PCL3.+

SERETECspam at bigpond.com.au
asks: " do you know of some way, interface
device or other, to extract information such as paper size and colour or
black from the data stream?"
James
Newton replies: See the good people at
pagetech.com+

Hi all. I really need a PCL Library that I can access from VB6.... Something
that allows me to position a box, and center text using Built in NP Fonts...
something that allows me to specify a JPEG and output it... I have something
like this fro Clipper, and love it. I want to be able to build and design
my Pages in Pure PCL (Since I use Tons of Macros), and call it from VB...
Most font calls, etc. are easy and I've written my own code, but Image conversion
to PCL image layout, and Centering calcs for NP Fonts, I can't get a grip
on. Suggestions anyone? Thanks! Bill

James
Newton replies: You probably will not find any support for direct
PCL generation in the more modern languages. That is the point of having
printer drivers for everything in windows, we don't need to mess with the
details of the printer languages anymore. Your best path is probably to abandon
your current method and learn how to print to the windows driver the standard
way. If your macros are form images, you may be able to use a PCLViewer or
converter to make them into eps or other graphics which can be used in
VB6.+

Hi, I woul like to know this, I need data from my print burst so that I can
compile it to be used with a control program which operates a product tracking
system. The print burst contains all of the data I need, but I dont know
how to view and capture the print burst. Can you help?

We have a LJ 4 and 8000 that prints the MICR correctly spaced. Our LJ 8150
prints the MICR code, but the spacing "spreads out" over the length of the
check (using the bank's plastic template). We are using the same Unix driver
(RAW) and esc sequence. We've tried different cartridges and esc sequence
(per Troy) with out changing the printed results. Any
suggestions?
James
Newton replies: The 8150 may have the default resolution set to 300
dpi where your data is positioning the data with commands that assume 600
dpi. The width of the font using for the 8150 may be different (assuming
it is a printer resident font). Without seeing the PCL commands being used,
it would be hard to comment further.+

fkuhnspam at quadrantsoftware.com
asks: " I am looking to implement boxes with
rounded corners. Is there PCL5 to do so, or must I use GL/2 drawing commands?"
James
Newton replies: The only way to do it with PCL is to use an image,
or many small rectangles. HPGL is the best for that application. Note that
HPGL is accept in a PCL print job as of
PCL5.+

Dear HP printer guru,
Could you please shed light on the auto page size select that operates with
some HP printers (HP1160) but not others (HP1320). Documents formatted to
a particular page size ie. Envelope DL cause some HP printers to auto select
the size and orientation via the manual feed bin, overriding the default
(say A4) page in a bin. This is a desirable feature since it allows various
envelopes and the like printed as required by manual feeding. Seems starnge
that the feature is present in some modern HP models and not others.

Thanks for any advice and regards,

Adrian Morgan
ImageWare Technologies Australia

James
Newton replies: The only advice I have is to not depend on the printer
and always specify the tray after you specify the size in the print job.
Of course, that assumes you control the printer
driver.+

I am able to print my document in landscape view now. However, the content
still can't be fit into an A4 paper size. Is there PCL command similar to
Windows "fit to page" selection in printer properties?

James
Newton replies: In a word, no. You must modify the printed output
to fit in the space available.+

i want to print DOS compiled HPGL2 code via a HP4050TN in duplex mode from
a VisualDbase5 software. It works well in single page mode, but I can't find
a Duplex command in HPGL2. Or do I have to sent the Duplex code first under
PCL5/6 to the printer? TKS in ADV

James
Newton replies: Duplex must be selected in PCL5 or (on some printers)
can be selected in the @PJL job setup.+

My company software specifies the escape sequence to the printer to set the
print format. Now it requires to print in landscape with 10 cpi.
What i found is for for 10 cpi then sequence is :
27 40 115 48 72
and for lanscape is:
27 38 108 49 79.
Thus am i correct by just combining both of it to construct the correct escape
sequence for it?

Have just purchased new laptop with win XP and only USB ports, previously
used Win 98 SE with most printing from WP 5.1+ DOS. Have 2000 research code
sheets, patient letters etc. Many have narrow top margins, so that after
converting to Word, I am worried they will not print to newer printers:
Questions: 1) what is last version of PCL which was good with DOS? 2) If
I want to squeeze a newer printer or use backward compatibility, (LJ 4+ can
handle narrow margins) do I lie to Windows and tell it printer is LJ II,
III, 4+ or is there a better way? RI Pfeffer, Emeritus Prof.

James
Newton replies: Answers: 1) PCL is independant of DOS. DOS never did
produce PCL itself but many DOS applications produced PCL 4 or PCL 5 code.
2) Almost all printer drivers allow you to set the margins within the ability
of the printer. E.g. the driver for a LJ 4200 will allow you to set a top
margin of just about anything more than .17 inches. I always use the LJ 4+
driver since all printers made since that are backward compatible and there
are very few features added since the 4+.+

I have a network addressable printer attached to the LAN with TCP/IP. The
printer has an FTP server running on it, so you can FTP files to it froma
anywhere on the intranet. When you do an FTP PUT fn.ext to the printer, it
prints the file.

How can I issue PCL commands to this printer from any TCP client on the LAN
via an FTP put?

Thank you

James
Newton replies: The PCL commands need to be in the file that you have
called fn.ext. You can use any binary editor to make the files, it just needs
to be able to put in the PCL escape
code.+

Can I tell a printer
to stable or not staple my MSWord dcoument using PCL
language?
James
Newton replies: No, you can't. That may be done through a PJL command.
Search the HP support site for PJL commands for your model
printer.+

Hello
We have a bespoke system that requires all of the PCL5 printing commands
entered manually, this worked brialliant with the 2200 and the 2300 but when
i set up a 2420 using the same commands it doesnt seem to print the last
page of a multiple page print job - until the next print run or u press the
button.

I have called HP - AND THEY DO NOT KNOW!!! Please help, as i dont even know
what the problem is to search for the command to fix it!!!

James
Newton replies: Try adding Esc E to the end of the print job where
Esc is the escape character, there is no space
and then an upper case E.+

I would like to print a page in landscape format.
I have tried the ESC&a270P, at several places in the code, that doesn't
work.
Is there a specific place where to put the command ?
Is there another command ?
Regards.

James
Newton replies: At the very beginning of the page, after any resets,
put ESC&l1O. That is the escape character,
an and sign, the lowercase letter L, the number 1, and an uppercase letter
O.+

lingytspam at perridot.com
asks: " Hi, I would like to know is there
a way I can get the filename of my printed document from PCL? I can't find
any PCL command for it. Thanks."
James
Newton replies: There is no file name command in PCL. You may find
job info data in a modern PCL driver's output inside @PJL
commands.+

Can I control page breaks by just using the just page length size? ie will
the printer automatically move to the next page when the page length is
reached?

Thanks

James
Newton replies: Yes. Assuming no other page control commands (e.g.
form feed, set page size, etc...) are recieved. You man need to enable
performation skip with Esc&l1L before you start printing your text. That
is the escape character, an and sign, the lower case letter L, the number
1, and the upper case letter L.+

Is there any documentation that compares PCL5 with PCL6 on a command basis?
I have programs that embed PCL5 ESC sequences in the output text and I need
to convert them to PCL6. Also, I printed a test file to a PCL6 .prn file
and can't find the Form Feed. What does PCL6 use as a FF?
Thanks,
Gary

James
Newton replies: There is no "one to one" comparison between PCL5 and
PCL6. PCL 6 is based on the Windows GDI commands so it works in a totally
different way. It is also much more complex and more difficult to generate
directly. There are some notes on the PCL6 page above, but in general you
will need to contact HP for PCL 6
documentation.+

That's correct. Infact, PCL6 is totally different in a manner that it
works on binary streams rather than esc sequences. For ex., for a form feed
which you are asking, it has a "BeginPage" and similarly an "EndPage" operator.
You will have to decode this in the binary stream. For more info on how to
decode it, please refer HP PCL 6 documentation. I have done a similar kind
of conversion in the past but for a limited functionality.

Hello, I am new to PCL 5e on a Troy HP 2100 and am having trouble with text
justification / alignment. Can you please tell me how to best attain the
width of a string of proportional-width text (printer font - Arial), prior
to sending it to the printer. I am programming in .NET. Thank much.

James
Newton replies: The direct answer to your question lies with the Windows
printer driver and GDI, not with PCL. To justify correctly in PCL without
knowing the character widths in advance, see:
Right and
center justification in
PCL.+

nathan_organspam at medfin.com.au
asks: " What would the code be for a xerox
to print ot the second tray."
James
Newton replies: It depends on the Xerox printer. Look in the user
manual or online support. In general it will be Esc&l#H but the # changes
from printer to printer.+

mliaospam at nytami.com
asks: " How can I highlight text using pcl command?"
James
Newton replies: What sort of a highlight do you want? You can bold
the text by just sending esc(s3B before the text and esc(s0B after it, but
that A) may not work for all fonts (some fonts don't have a bold version)
and B) if the text already WAS bold, it will turn off the bolding after the
"highlight." There are other ways like drawing a box or a shadow over it,
but they are much more complex.+

Hello,
I am trying to create a batch file to run that will change the number of
copies on a HP9000 dn printer.I have found the control commands, the batch
file reads as follows
copy Ec(escape charcter ,a left arow ?)&l5X > LPT2 where LPT2 is mapped
to the network printer.When I run the HPCOPY.bat file in a command prompt
it says
The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect
0 file(s) copied.
'l2X' is not recognized as an internal or external command,

I know it is a bit simple for you guys,but can you help me please?

James
Newton replies: Windows NT and above command prompt (and batch files)
interpret the & sign as a command seperator. i.e. it starts a new command.
so your command line is seen as two seperate lines:

copy Ec
&l5X > LPT2

You can correct that by placing a carat (^) in front of the &

Secondly the copy command is used to copy the contents of one file or
device to another and does not copy characters in the command line itself.
You want the echo command.

Can anyone reply to follwoing queries?
1. Can I create a PCL using Notepad?
2. Does the "Print To File" generates PCL?
3. Is it possible to convert PCL back to ASCII?

James
Newton replies:
1. No, but only because it can not generate the escape character that is
required at the start of any PCL command. If you have the escape character
in a file, then you can edit that file in notepad and copy the character.
The exception is PCL with binary data such as font downloads and images.
Notepad is not a binary editor.

2. If the printer driver installed is PCL

3. That depends on a long list of things. Among them are the font used
to print the data in PCL, the font settings in the printer driver used to
create the PCL, the original source of the text, etc... See pagetech.com
for solutions in this area.

vincent-datascanpharmacy-M96
replies: In reference to (1), you CAN produce PCL from notepad but it
requires you to know the ASCII DECIMAL code for the characters rather than
the HEX code. For example, ESC is ASCII decimal 27. In notepad, hold ALT
and using the NUMERIC KEYPAD (this WILL NOT WORK with the numbers keys on
the top of the keyboard) press 2, then press 7, then release the ALT key.
You will see the arrow pointing to the left appear at the cursor position.
That is the escape character. Most PCL documentation provides the DECIMAL
as well as HEX codes for the escape sequences. Make sure you use the DECIMAL
code with this technique. +

I am trying to parse pre-PCL5 files (I have a file with LANGUAGE=PCLSLEEK
which I have read may be PCL3 (?)) However I can find no specs for pre-PCL5
anywhere! Any ideas? Thanks+

We store PCL files in our printers and send data to the printer over the
WAN. I am currently using a PCL5e driver to communication with a collection
of HP's, mostly 4 and 4+. I have 2 4+ printers that force a page break, printing
the form, then on a new blank page the data that has been sent to the form.
I have tried adjusting the components of the form to be sure that everything
is within the printable margins, and checked that the form lines is 66 at
the printer with no success. Any suggestions would be useful.
James
Newton replies: Connect the printer locally, put it in debug mode
(<esc>&sC<esc>Y) and then look at what the printer is actually
recieving.+

geoffreyspam at vstars.com.sg
asks: " What is the PCL command for inserting
a header or footer to every pages of document to be printed?"
James
Newton replies: There is no single command to do this. You could create
a macro with the text of the header or footer and use the macro overlay command
to specify that it should be added to each page.
+

Hi, I would like to download a micr font to our printers and make it permanent.
But before I buy the micr fonts, I read through the pcl technical reference
manuals about how to go about downloading the soft font. I still can't figure
out how to do it. Can somebody help me please. By the way, I am trying to
do this from the mainframe.

James
Newton replies: Use HP software called Forms and Font Manager which
should come with any FLASH memory or hard drive option for the printer.

If you mean "Perminent in RAM" I would not recommend this for a network
connected printer. Network cards seem to clear RAM even when you tell the
font to be perminant. The "Make previous font perminant" command is clearly
listed in the PCL5 tech ref.

If you have an HP 2300 or 4200 or newer printer network support does
work if you use the "RAM disk" but you will probably want to get Forms and
Font Manager or the FSA (File System Architecture) documentation from
HP.+

I was able to print micr fonts on HP laserjet 4si, and 8000 series but I
can't seem to print the micr on 5si, 8150DN, 9000 and Troy 9000 series printers.
I am using the PCL command <esc>0Q to access the E13B font. Does the
E13B font differ between printer models?

James
Newton replies: It can. You need to print the PCL font list from the
front panel of the printer to find the exact selection string for the font.
It may very well be that this font is not installed in all the printers you
are trying to use as it is NOT a standard
font.+

ktrajkovskispam at masmutual.com
asks: " Is there a command that will allow you
to pull a sheet from another tray and insert it as a slip-sheet, and then
staple after the inserted sheet?"
James Newton replies:
Tray select commands are documented for each printer in the users manual
appendix. I am not aware of any PCL commands for stapleing. As far as I know,
that is only available in @PJL commands and is again, specific to the
printer.+

I need to print the current Windows Account Username in the footer of every
page of every print job - no matter the application software. I looked at
the separator technology, but it seems to provide the inclusion of additional
pages, rather than changing the actual print job pages.

I think what I'll need to do is intercept the PCL printer output from the
driver and modify its content? If so, is there a PCL command that I can include
that will enter a username footer on every page.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

James Newton replies:
In a word, no. You would have to first parse the PCL printer output to
find each end of page, then insert at that point a font selection command,
cursor positioning command and the text of the users name. This is a lot
of work... You might be better off looking for a printer driver replacement
that could do this for you.+

How can I know how many pages are there in any pcl binary file.
Looking for form feed does not work as I have found so many 0xC in this three
page document file

James Newton replies:
You are getting extra 0x0C characters from the binary graphic data in
the print job. To skip these "fake" form feeds, you must
parse the PCL commands, looking for any that
end in a "W". The number just before the W is the number of bytes of binary
data (after the "W") to skip.

Note that although most page ejects are caused by form feed characters,
there are several other ways to end a page in
PCL.+

I'm trying to rotate text on the page 90 degrees clockwise, to overlay it
onto a landscape form. I think I can do this to any page by using
ESC&a270P, but when I render the text below with PCL6, the result is
not what I would expect. The first line of text is rotated, but it's given
its own page ... the other lines look about right but there's clearly some
magic I'm missing that makes Page 1 look like that.

That is really not easy in PCL. Since all sizes and positions are specified
absolutly, you have to find and divide by two all:

cursor positions

area width and height

font sizes

bitmaps (oh boy! and that includes bitmap font images)

and so on...

A better idea would be to find and double any commands that specify the
resolution; a 600DPI document prints half size at 1200DPI. Since 1200 is
usually the top resolution, you are sunk if the original is already at 1200,
but that should be rare. Also, some printers don't support 1200 (and the
really old ones only supported 300)

The only other idea would be to see if your printer supports an @PJL
command to reduce output. I don't think any do actually, but that would be
the logical place to put it. Please let us know what you figure out!

I am generating some reports using Foxpro For DOS. I use PCL codes to draw
boxes, lines, etc. How can I convert the reports to a faxable image(raster
image)? Shuold insert PCL using hex values? Thank you in advance.

James Newton replies:
There was a fax modem that came with software that would do that... It
was an Intel unit... I think it was called a "Satisfaction" or something
like that.Today, you can purchase a toolkit from Robert Pooley at
PageTech.

Is there a way to tell the windows PCL driver to only allow letter size.
I can do this for PostScript driver by editing the PPD file but what mechanism
is available in PCL.

James Newton replies:
Good question... I don't know. I'm assuming you want to keep users from
hanging a network printer by selecting a page size that isn't loaded and
then not servicing the printers request for the other paper size.

You might be able to get an answer from the HP forums
http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/CategoryHome/1,,219,00.html
(be sure to put a descriptive title on the question e.g. "need WIN PCL driver
to allow only letter size", include a complete description of WHY you need
this and exactly what you do in the PS driver and what you have tried in
the PCL driver and be sure to follow up and assign points to the answers)

I am using 3 PCL commands in a Word document. One selects from the approproate
drawer, one controls short or long edge duplexing and the third controls
the number of copies. My problem is when I print, say 3 copies of the document,
it does not collate correctly. Page 1 and 2 print duplexed 3 times followed
by page 3 printing 3 times. Is there a way with PCL printer commands to control
collating so I get page 1-3 together instead of page 1-2 grouped then page
3 grouped. I've included my PCL commands being used in my document.

James Newton replies:The
problem is that MS Word is also asking the printer driver to send codes for
these things and its codes are interferring with your codes. The best thing
is to use the settings in MS Word for number of pages, etc...

Im trying to use PCL to change fonts and merge with overlays on a printed
document using a number of different HP printers; some 5si, Laserjet 4000,
IIIp, etc. It works on the 5si printer but am having problems on the others.
My question is - can this be down to the version of PCL Im using? Many thanks,
Julian Palmer.

Sure... All of those printers support standard PCL5 commands. If you have
it working on one printer the only possible difference is the non-printable
margin size between the different models.

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